A couple of months - hopefully no more - after its Japanese and North American releases next month (on February 19 and 24, respectively), Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope will also be released in Europe and other PAL territories. In a super-standard press release today, the European branch of Square Enix promised to release this Xbox 360 RPG prequel in spring 2009, though they have yet to pinpoint a more precise date.

They did however come well prepared for the occasion, unloading this plump piece of artwork above, along with plenty of screenshots that you can see below - granted they're still from the Japanese version. There was also that new Star Ocean 4 trailer we posted a few days ago, and updated yesterday with a high-res version. Yeah, it's no Final Fantasy XIII, but it'll have to do, for now. (...)

Whether or not Core Design's classic franchise needs a "reboot" has been argued for what seems like - and quite possibly is - a decade. Ever since their 1996 debut, the Tomb Raider games have been marching down the same path, pretty much, and I for one am not among those complaining. Sure, they weren't all that great, but at least Eidos was stubborn enough to stay the course, even after handing the development over to Crystal Dynamics.

But things are about to change in the life of Lara Croft, big time! According to Hollywood Reporter, the whole Tomb Raider franchise - games and movies alike - is getting a major revamp. Warners Bros. and producer Dan Lin are said to be "in early development on a reboot of Tomb Raider", very much unlike the original. And with no more Angelina Jolie in the next movie, by the way. (...)

Gayspot, the website that fires senior editors for not sucking the small dicks of sponsors (feel the Kane and Linch review, if it is still on), reports on a Q&A regarding Elemental: War of Magic, which we have announced some time ago.

As they say, the game will draw its purpose from several franchises, such as The Lord of the Rings, Master of Magic and Civilization, BUT FAILING hard at getting elements from the only TBS that really matters. I'll let you guess which one that is. It starts with “Heroes”. And it ends with " Might and Magic 3".

As usual, when we talk about Starcraft 2, we all go “WTFFFS WHY??". It is normal, and absolutely decent. Because a game that comes in three fucking parts smells like a milk cow. Even if Blizzard says it does not.

Recently, Speaking with Videogamer, Blizzard's Paul Sams started to spit so many “NOHEZ” words about this issue, that even I tend to call him a bull crap. As I said before, this merger between Activision and Blizzard will eventually lead to serious issues. We have Starcraft 2 in three parts, then Battle.Net on a pay roll, then... who knows, fucking Diablo III monthly fee, mayhap.

The fact of the matter is, it's absolutely, positively untrue about us trying to stretch it out and milk it. People think that it was a monetary driven decision. I can absolutely, positively tell you, with 100 per cent certainty, that that was not part of the conversation. I guarantee it. I give my word. There was never, ever a conversation where we said, 'let's do this because we're going to make more money'. I guarantee it. As a matter of fact the sole reason we did it was because we thought it was going to be a better experience. Anybody that says otherwise is not correct. It is absolutely not what we did it for.

And here we have Square Enix's official Q1 2009 lineup, thanks to the guys at The Stick of Joy. Console owners, beware, your shopping spree just got a bit bigger. And also, translated into ENGRISH!

* Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP / 6 Jan.): Being the remastered portable version of the interstellar -- and considered by some to be just plain stellar -- sequel. Features new voice work, new cutscenes and people crying in space. * Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS / 17 Feb.): Being the hitherto unlocalized entry in the venerable RPG series. Yes, Dragon Ball Z guy designed these characters too. * Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Xbox 360 / 3 Mar.): Being tri-Ace's long-awaited continuation of the science-fiction franchise. The subtitle implies that this is a big deal for the Xbox 360 in Japan. * Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS / 17 Mar.): Being the third instalment in the respected Valkyrie Profile series. If you're looking for an explanation of the title, we're afraid you're plume out of luck.

And they say world wide economy is going down the drain. What a bunch of horse bullshit. Take a look at this, it seems that Gears of War 2 sold, probably as expected, no less than 2 millions copies in the first weekend since its launch. Which isn't THAT bad, really.

Other than that, LIVE was also targeted and bombed by 1.5 million players who logged in to kick some ass in Gears of War 2, totaling some 15 million hours of game-fucking-play, unlocking 19 million GoW 2 achievements. How's that for a freaking console exclusive game? And I also heard it is actually good.

Since subscriptions are running wild in World of Warcraft, and Battle.Net is still free of charge (for now), Blizzard has decided that it would be a good time to ban some more cheaters from its incredible awesome servers. Very, very good. Cheaters are bad. They do nasty things and smell like polar bears. I wonder if they will ever do something about that gold selling thing, it's really getting nasty.

As part of our continued effort to ensure a fair and fun online experience for all Battle.net players, we have expanded our efforts to remove cheaters from StarCraft and Diablo II. We have identified and closed over 350,000 StarCraft and Diablo II accounts which were found to be using third-party hacks.

The Diablo II CD keys associated with the closed Diablo II accounts are now restricted from playing on Battle.net for approximately 30 days. Repeat offenders will have their accounts closed and their CD keys permanently banned from Battle.net. As a reminder, we reserve the right to close the accounts and ban the CD keys of players who are caught cheating on Battle.net. Cheating ruins the game experience for legitimate players, and we will not tolerate it.

If you didn't like Supreme Commander, it means you didn't like Total Annihilation. And if you didn't like Total Annihilation, and still call yourself a “strategist”, I recommend going back and playing with yourself one more time, because strategists do not need retards like you.

And now, here's the sequel, published by Square Enix and still developed by Gas Powered Games. Details are scarce, as in non-existent, but still, if the game follows in his papa's footsteps, it's gonna be two things: a great game, and an avid resource consumer. Be sure to get that new PC you have always wanted. Click for the press release: (...)

After leaving his trademark on the gaming industry via the Ultima series (and also producing Tabula Rasa), Richard Garriot has sent an open letter to the said MMO's community, informing the fans of his plans to leave NCsoft in the near future. Why, or where, it still remains an unknown issue to us, but the certain thing is that it has something to do with his recent voyage into outer space. Or outer limits.

Hopefully, his plans will still involve gaming, since this guy is one of the bastards I will always remember, from childhood until now. May luck shine upon you whatever you do, Lord British, even if you have discovered a race of horny Japanese teenage girls and you don't want to share it. Click further for the letter: (...)

The newest title in the Prince of Persia franchise is supposed to hit the shelves on December 2th, making all the gay Arabian dude's fans pretty happy. For those who are interested in the system requirements, some guys at Ubisoft have posted them on the Official forums.

Note that these are the minimum system requirements, any jet plane with better gear will run the game smoothly. Or so they say. The game will also be available for PS3 and X360, to please the ever growing console community.